Municipal Police Academy Coming Back to Blue Bell

After 25 years at its current location in Conshohocken, Pa., the Montgomery County Community College Municipal Police Academy is relocating to the College's Central Campus.

The new Health Sciences Center at MCCC, which opens this month, will serve as the home for the Academy, offering cadets use of state-of the-art-technology, ultramodern classrooms and access to two large gymnasiums and a 7,000 square foot wellness center for the physical training requirements that are part of the Academy curriculum. In addition, cadets will benefit from the use of running trails on campus and easier access to student services such as the Veterans Resources Center, the Financial Aid Office and many others. Firearms and defensive driving training will be conducted offsite.

Dr. Kevin Pollock, President of MCCC, said the move became necessary following a comprehensive program review of the Academy that included the impact of the forthcoming expansion of curriculum by the Municipal Police Officers' Education and Training Commission, student services and facilities evaluation.

"There is a lot of sentiment for the Public Safety Training Campus because it has served the College well and trained hundreds of officers, including more than 30 local police chiefs," Pollock said. "The decision wasn't easy, but the obvious educational benefits of the move for the cadets far outweighs that history. The students and their education and training come first."

With the move, the Academy is actually coming home. It started on the Blue Bell Campus in 1974, and moved to Conshohocken in 1991.

The College, in conjunction with the Municipal Police Officers' Education and Training Commission, operates the Municipal Police Academy. The academy has been the training ground for approximately 3,500 cadets with a consistent graduation rate of more than 90 percent.